PROCESSING VEG GROWERS ELECT FIRST AND SECOND VICE-CHAIRS

Michael Denys was elected first vice-chair and Ken Hamm was elected second vice-chair at the Board of Directors meeting held January 13, 2020. Michael Denys, Wallaceburg, has been the on the Board since 2017. Ken Hamm, Leamington, has been on the Board since 2018.

 

Ryan Leclair and Ron VanDamme also joined the Board through a new electoral voting process implemented by Farm Products Marketing Commission which used an electoral officer to conduct the district votes for Board representation. Mike Lenders was also re-elected to serve as District 2 Director and Dan Froese was acclaimed in District 3 as Director for a second term.

 

“We are pleased to have Ron VanDamme and Ryan Leclair join the Board and look forward to their leadership,” stated Dave Hope, chair of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers (OPVG). “We have great leadership, skills and depth on this Board and have a great deal of work to accomplish to support growers as they deal with the new regulations on tomatoes and carrots.”

 

The OPVG is a marketing board regulated under the Farm Products Marketing Act and represents nearly 340 Ontario processing vegetable growers producing crops such as tomatoes, onions, sweet corn, carrots, cucumbers, green, wax & lima beans, green peas, squash and pumpkin. Farm gate sales for our processing vegetable crops in 2019 was just under $90 million. OPVG members are family-owned and operated businesses, growing vegetable crops for Ontario food manufacturing companies.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.